Not The Only One
by Escaping The Fate
Summary: Natsu had fallen into a deep depression as of late, isolating himself from others until a certain blonde mage calls for his help. Lucy, a beautiful girl whom he had considered to be one of his two only friends. But will this blonde somehow find her way into his heart? Will he ever be able to convey his feelings if she does? Nalu. First fanfic-Hope you like! M for future chapters!


Cold, dark eyes fixed on the light dappled night sky outside the large bedroom window, glazed over with intense thought. His jaw clenched, thoughts fixed onto a small dash of hope. Hope that who he was in that moment would change to be something better in the future.

'If I am to have a future." Natsu Dragneel, child of not two humans nor one, but a dragon, felt abandoned, felt hurt, felt so very in need of someone to just stand by him and tell him that everything would all be fine one day. The reality he was caught in, though, was proving that things were, in fact, not okay. Nor were they going to be. Who in this dark and desperate world said that boys didn't self harm? Natsu's arms were covered in stripes. Stripes that flickered under the most dim of light. Stripes he had received from people who had been mean to him, ones that had stripped him of his happiness. The cuts, some healed, some brand new, burned like liquid fire that was hotter than the fire that he utilized, and the pain was only to continue evermore. It never stopped, raging through his veins in place of cold blood. The violence never left him alone. So many wonder why the current generation is so depressed. Those people don't realize that they are the cause, their words stung his heart like venom. Each day grew worse and worse, and he fell deeper into the bottomless pit of depression. It seemed to consume him more and more with every second that passed by.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Natsu's phone vibrated obnoxiously loud against the navy blue stained wooden night stand, a mere two feet away. To him, nestled deep beneath two cozy blankets, it seemed to be miles away. "Ugh…" He muttered, sighing and lifting his scrawny, dead arm, slamming it down heavily onto his phone. "Shut up." He rolled onto his side with hesitance, not anywhere close to being amused with whomever was depriving him of sleep. Soon, Natsu dozed off once more for what seemed like a blissful few moments.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

He sighed, grumbled and whined. The teen was most definitely unamused. If it was a morning that he had to leave on a job, he would most definitely have killed someone by then. Natsu tossed his other slender arm, the one not resting on his phone, over his forehead, barely helping to shield his eyes from the bright screen.

He squinted and struggled to read the letters. "Lucy: Natsu. I'm on my way over now. It's… It's an emergency. Please be there tonight…" He read over the message twice, as concerned as a rather distraught person could be. He was a team mate with this sweet girl. She was his best friend! His only friend besides a flying cat, as a matter of fact. What happened to her? She usually respected him enough most of the time to know that he was asleep at this hour, and usually she would text him to where he could feel her happiness in the words she wrote.

He lazily sat up from the comfort of his cozy blankets and swept the long straight strands of soft pink hair from his eyes. He threw on shorts and a hoodie and stumbled out of the old door, nearly tripping himself as he dashed up the soft carpeted stairs into the kitchen. It was four in the morning, he noted, staring at the old clock that hung beside the pantry doors. The teen scrambled to make some toast for her. It would be a while.

He put on some music following his taste, hoping that when Lucy arrived, she wouldn't mind the noise. The toast sprung up, he buttered it and glanced over at the door, hearing the soft touch of footsteps and three timid knocks. She was there quick, just like she always had been, being only a few houses down from his own.

Natsu sprinted across the kitchen and dining room floor, over the carpet in the living room and as he answered the door, he gasped. The girl darted into the house and hid somewhere in the shadows cast by the moonlight trickling in onto the objects in the room, and he looked outside. Nothing was chasing her…

"Luce," He began, just now tearing his gaze from the dark outdoors to meet hers. She looked like a small, frightened animal, all balled up. A girl he once thought to be strong, brave, full of courage. She now looked weak, her emotions crumbling, and it looked as if she needed to be... protected. "What's wrong?"

She flinched when Natsu swung the door shut and watched with wide, focused eyes as he approached her and sat in front of her. "Dad and I got into another fight… I had to… just…"

"Just what?" He pressed, laying his hand over hers gently, seating himself next to her.

She took a deep, shaky breath and kept her gaze low. "I had to run... He was attacking me, Natsu... I... I'm not sure if I can go back there with how things are. Can I stay with you tonight?" She asked, trembling slightly. He nodded and gently tugged her against him in a tight, caring and warm embrace, placing her in his lap.

"What happened?" Part of him suspected that one of them had gotten hurt, but he wanted to know as much as she could tell him. Sometimes, he could be too quick to assume. But the pink haired dragonslayer felt that whatever happened, it was serious.

She looked up at him, her dull eyes becoming glassy. Tears spilled, droplets rolling down her cheek. "I... I was upstairs in my room, on my laptop. He came in drunk to the point where he could hardly stand. It was his day off, and this always happens anyways... But he was calling me names, and dragged me from my bed by my hair and tossed me on the floor... I heard him call me by my mom's name... Then... Natsu... He tried... He tried to... " Lucy fell silent for a moment, sobs being torn from her. "I got out from under him and ran downstairs into the bathroom... I put on what clothing I kept there and popped open the bathroom window... When I ran out of the house… I'm positive he followed... I-I'm positive he's..." Natsu read it in her expression. 'I'm positive he's dead.'

"Shh…" He whispered to her, rubbing her back as she released soft sobs. 'That's why she wanted to come over.' He thought. He felt so horrible. Somehow responsible as well, believing that if he was there for her sooner, she would have avoided this. "Of course you can stay with me." He whispered. The sixteen year old was currently considered to be living all alone. His parent had left him years upon years ago. According to the other dragonslayers he had met, the dragon that parented them also had left. This girl… To him, this girl had been the most amazing influence. She pulled him through what nobody else could have with that cute smile she wore daily…

Well… More like had worn… She currently was swiping the tear droplets from her eyes, sniffling, whimpering and shaking continuously.

The pink-haired mage pulled the quaking blonde into his arms and softly rubbed her back, hoping to calm her down, even if it was only a little. "Shhh…" He whispered to Lucy once again, listening to her sobs slowly beginning to cease.

"I… I remember when I was a little girl… Dad used to hug me and used to not drink and he never raised a hand to me… What I wouldn't give for one last hug… One more, 'I love you'." She turned to face him, looking up into Natsu's warm black eyes with tears welling up in her own.

"I know it can't be much," Natsu began, somewhat hiding his face behind untamed, spiked pink hair. "But I can say that you are not alone. I'll never leave your side, Luce. I swear."

Lucy leaned forward and hugged him close against her, crying in his arms until eventually she fell asleep. He gently picked her up and carried her downstairs, placing her on his own bed, gently tugging the covers over her, hoping that for the night, she would be warm, and she would feel secure.

"I'll be up for a while, I suppose." He spoke, hushed. He closed the old door quietly behind him and headed upstairs once again, and instead of turning for the kitchen, he turned to walk to the living room, sitting down on a cozy leather sofa, pulling a blanket over him as he let his tv and xbox turn on. He stayed awake until about five thirty, falling asleep in the middle of a mission.


End file.
